1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for the application of a bone graft material to a bone and, more particularly, to a device for the delivery of particulate bone graft material to a bone.
2. Background Information
In many orthopedic procedures, it may become necessary at some point to provide bone graft material to a bone in order to augment the natural bone. Bone graft material may include either autogenous bone, allograft, xenograft, or synthetic bone graft substitute. In many orthopedic surgical procedures, particularly joint replacement surgery, certain implantable components must be affixed to bone. The bone quality of a patient, in an area at which a prosthetic component is to be implanted, must be sufficient to enable the effective anchoring of the prosthetic component to the bone. In such situations, bone graft is thus used to provide bone augmentation, particularly for prosthetic implantation. In the case of bone defects, such defects are often also treated with a synthetic or natural bone graft. Bone graft is also used in cavities caused by tumor removal or volume lost by large fracture sites.
The use of bone graft is typically required in the case of implant revision surgery. In implant revision surgery, a previously implanted prosthesis is removed and replaced with a new prosthesis. Bone graft is used since the cavity formed by removal of the previously implanted prosthesis and any old bone cement, particulate debris, membrane, beads and other remnants associated with cemented or cementless prosthesis removal results in a cavity significantly larger than is desired for implantation of a new prosthesis.
Bone graft may be in wet or slurry form, or a dry or particulate/granule form. With respect to synthetic bone graft, the market is currently quite competitive. Many companies now provide various forms of synthetic bone graft.
The method of delivery of bone graft to a particular location depends on the form of the bone graft being utilized. In the case of wet and/or slurry type bone graft, various “caulk-type” applicators have been devised. One such device is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,051 issued to Mikhail on Jul. 20, 1999 (the “Mikhail device”). The Mikhail device provides a caulking gun type dispenser for introducing and compacting bone graft in an enlarged bone (e.g. femoral) cavity. The dispenser includes a barrel pre-loaded with bone graft and a cannulated ejector/compactor positionable over a multi-section guide wire for both ejecting bone graft from the barrel and compacting the bone graft material while being guided on the guide wire. The Mikhail device, however, is designed for use with the wet or slurry forms of bone graft.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,765 issued to Thornhill et al. on Feb. 1, 2000 (the “Thornhill device”) teaches a bone allograft applicator device. The bone allograft applicator is used to apply a bone graft slurry to an artificial joint without having to remove a previously implanted prosthesis component. The applicator device includes a hollow tube with an actuation mechanism for discharging the bone slurry from the device via a nozzle coupled to a distal end of the tube. The bone allograft device can include various components for loading the device with the slurry and/or a plurality of nozzles each having a geometry suited for a particular application. Like the Mikhail device, the Thornhill device is designed for use with bone slurry.
Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,932 issued to Smith et al. on Dec. 16, 1997 (the “Smith device”) a bone graft delivery system and method is shown. A hollow tube of pre-loaded bone graft and a plunger are used to facilitate delivery of the bone graft to a bone graft receiving area. Positioning structure is provided on the plunger to maintain the plunger in a desirable position with respect to the hollow tube. Adjunct positioning means may also be provided to ensure that the plunger remains in the desirable position during the packing of bone graft into the bone graft receiving area. Like the previous devices, the Smith device is clearly designed for wet or slurry type bone graft.
Such prior art bone graft applicators must come pre-loaded with bone graft or require constant loading, if possible, in order to constantly have a supply of bone graft available. Moreover, these devices cannot handle particulate bone graft of varying or irregular particulate size. These problems can be a huge inconvenience.
It should be appreciated in view of the above that it is desired to have a device that accurately delivers or dispenses bone graft in a timely and controlled manner to a particular bone graft receiving location. It would further be desirable to have a bone graft dispensing device that is refillable during use.
It should be further appreciated that it is desired to have a bone graft delivery device that dispenses dry and/or particulate bone graft in a controlled-flow manner. Moreover, it is desired to have a bone graft dispensing device that controllably dispenses bone graft composed of particulate of various dimensions and/or, particulate of an irregular size and/or shape.
What is therefore needed in view of the above is a bone graft dispensing device that incorporates one or more of the above-appreciated desires. What is particularly needed in view of the above is a dispensing device for dry bone graft is that allows controlled delivery of bone graft. What is more particularly needed in view of the above is a controlled application dispensing device for particulate bone graft wherein the particulate may be of irregular size and/or shape.